During the climax of "Revenge of the Fallen", Optimus Prime combines with Jetfire to enhance his power and take down the Decepticons. It's an exciting sequence that emulates a combination fans saw in "Armada" and also harkens back to the days of "Masterforce" where Ginrai combined with Godbomber to form "God Ginrai". While combining is hardly new to Transformers, it is a concept that we have not seen in the live action film until now. The Power Bots take on this combination is Jetpower Optimus Prime, a chunky figure representing the combined form of Optimus Prime and Jetfire. This figure does not transform, however, it does have an action feature that differentiates it from the previous two Power Bots releases, Megatron and Bumblebee. This is not a conventional figure in that it does not transform, but it does have play features including lights and sounds.

Sculpt & Colors:
The "Power Bots" line of Transformers creates familiar characters in a form that allows for younger fans to play with that emphasizes lights, sounds and action play more than the transformation. Like the Robot Replicas figures, this offers some freedom to the designers to create large, chunky proportions that exemplify this sub-line of figures. Optimus arms and legs are big, especially the feet which are super wide. The large feet give the figure exceptional stability when standing. His chunky arms and fists give him a powerful appearance. The jet pack on his back is flat, but wide, giving each thruster an oval shape. The back of the figure has a handle on it attached to the jet pack. This is a great feature that allows you to pick up the figure and "fly" it around when its wings are deployed. Sure it looks a bit out of place, but considering this figure focuses on the play factor, this is more than appropriate.

Just because he's meant for younger kids and chunky, it doesn't mean Jetpower Optimus Prime lacks detail. Indeed, I was quite impressed with the level of detail on this figure. The robot head is very detailed and represents Optimus Prime with his "battle mask" up very well. The details are intricate down to lines around his eyes and the eyeballs themselves complete with the lines etched into his pupils with the circle in the center. His arms have line details on the shoulders and each finger is sculpted with circles indicating hinges at the end of each digit. Sure he doesn't transform, but Optimus still shows some car parts in the form of his wheels on his legs, each one sculpted with ridges on the tires. What's neat about the upper legs is that the plate details from the Jetfire parts actually cover up part of the lower wheels, showing that he is indeed wearing armor on top of his regular form. Other armor pieces appear on his shoulders and wrapped around his chest, giving them the look of straps made up of metal. His torso also has the iconic Optimus Prime bits including the windshield windows on his chest and the headlights along the area under his chest. I'm really happy with the level of detail on this figure. I'd go so far as to say it rivals some smaller, transformable figures.

Optimus Prime is cast in black, metallic blue and white plastic. Unlike most smaller transformable figures, Jetpower Optimus Prime is mostly painted. The biggest section of plastic that is not covered by paint are his legs, cannon and backpack - in other words all the Jetfire parts. Almost everything else is painted in bright, metallic colors including metallic red, silver and blue. Most of the upper body is metallic red including his chest and forearms. Silver is used for several section including the shoulder parts underneat the Jetfire armor, his fists, the upper legs and parts of his feet. You'll also find silver on the head and at the top of the thrusters on his back. Metallic blue is used for smaller details including the bands under his shoulders and raised details on the legs. A bit of gold is found on the middle of the body where a button that activates his wings is located (more on that in a bit). There is some clear, translucent plastic on this figure as well. The eyes are made up of translucent plastic, as are the tops of his jetpack thrusters and parts of the cannon. A really nice touch that makes him a bit closer to the movie model is the use of red and blue paint to give him flame details on his torso and legs. Overall, there's no mistaking who this hero is!

Play Factor:
Aside from the aforementioned handle, Optimus has six points of articulation (not including his wings). This is mainly made up of his arms and legs, but his head can turn as well. I was surprised to see wrist articulation on this figure on the left hand since the right hand is stuck in an upgright position with the cannon attached to it. By the standards of your average deluxe scale figure, this isn't a lot, but in terms of what a fan would need to imagine Optimus Prime taking out Megatron and the Decepticons while flying around, it's all you really need.

The electronics are the real fun of this figure. On the back, towards the middle is a switch to turn the electronics on, off or put them into demo mode (the default for the packaged figure). Turn it on for all the features I'm about to talk about. Jetpower Optimus Prime uses 3 AAA batteries (included). The panel for the batter is under his right foot.

As a G1 fan from the old days, I was very happy to hear the voice of Peter Cullen himself coming from this figure - and loudly at that. There are quite a few electronic features that are activated by key points on the body. Below I will list the point on the body and the resulting actions.

Press the button on Optimus Prime's chest (shaped like a raised Autobot symbol) and the following happens:

The figure says "I am Optimus Prime." as the eyes light up.

The figure says "Autobots, transform and roll out!" as the eyes light up and flash.

Optimus yells "Heeyah!" as if he is hitting something. Right after the cannon on his right arm lights up and makes a firing noise. All this is accompanied by light in the eyes and cannon.

Optimus yells "Heeyah, take that!" and the cannon fires three times in succession. This is accompanied by light flashes in the cannon and eyes.

Optimus says "He'll never see us coming!"

Push the gold piece on his waist down and the wings deploy and light up red on the top. The following actions also occur:

Optimus' eyes light up as he says "Transform!" and the wings make a mechanical deploying noise followed by the whoosh of air as if he is flying.

The same sequence mentioned above happens, except Optimus says "Battle mode! They'll never see us coming!".

For each of the above sequences, the flying sound plays for about ten seconds and then the wings make a "shut down" noise and Optimus yells "Autobots! Let's fly!"

As Optimus is "flying", move his arms and other phrases will play including "Autobots! Take evasive action!" This is motion activated, but the easiest way to get these sounds are by manipulating the arms.

While the wings are deployed, if you "land" Optimus on his feet, it makes a mechanical "shut down" noise (different from the one mentioned above) and all his lights go dark. Lift him up again he says "Autobots, they'll never see us coming!" followed by a blast off noise and more flight sounds. If you push the gold switch back up, the wings swing back down and a deactivation noise plays quickly.

Press the button on his right arm (also shaped like a raised Autobot symbol) and the cannon lights up while making a firing noise. The switch on his left heel (which sets off the landing and blast off noises mentioned above) will make a simple clanking/crashing type noise as if he is stomping around or kicking something if used with the wings down.

Final Thoughts:
I'm generally not a fan of figures that are big, chunky and don't do a whole lot, but I have to confess to really liking this figure a lot. The sculpt is really well done, the colors are vibrant and most of all, it has awesome lights and sounds. Hearing Peter Cullen's voice as Optimus Prime is always a treat, and the sheer number of phrases and variations of sounds was a pleasant surprise. This may not be for older fans, but it's definitely a fun toy to have in one's collection. Only get it if you're going to take it out and play with it, otherwise its charm will be lost on you. Highly recommended (and loved).